


Absolute Terror

by Yrindor



Series: The Doctor and the Hawk [7]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Doctor Midorima, Fireman Kagami, Future Fic, Gen, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Neurodiversity, POV Multiple, Policeman Aomine, Workplace Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-18 23:43:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4724615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yrindor/pseuds/Yrindor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had started out as a normal enough day, but when a scary situation arose at Akashi's office, it turned into a nightmare for those close to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All characters belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

Aomine was sprawled at his desk glaring at the seemingly never-ending piles of paperwork when the call first came in. There wasn't much information, just reports of a possible violent incident at one of the offices downtown. It didn't involve his division, so he had nothing to rescue him from the interminable paper shuffling. The voice over the radio continued directing various units to the scene, and he was torn between welcoming the distraction and hating the reminder that he was stuck at a desk with the damn forms that needed to be filled out, in triplicate of course, and then signed, dated, stamped, initialed, and all the other crap that went along with paperwork.

He hadn't made it far when his phone buzzed with a new message. His boss would kick him if he was caught, but he really didn't want to do the paperwork, so he looked at it anyway.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Kise Ryōta  
>  **Subject:** Akashi  
>  Aominecchi! Midorimacchi! (*^▽^*)  
>  Akashicchi has meetings in Tokyo today, right? (▪_▪?)  
>  Is he okay??? (~_~;)

He growled at his phone, wondering why Kise was asking him of all people about Akashi, and why he always had to use so many damn emoji. He was about to write it off as some whim of the flighty actor and leave it for Midorima to deal with when he caught the voice on his radio repeating the address. It was the Tokyo branch of Akashi's company. Shit. If Akashi was in fact in that building, then things were suddenly a lot messier, and he was probably in for a long day. He didn't bother trying to figure out how Kise had heard about the incident so quickly; the man had a gossip network that would put the intelligence agencies of many countries to shame. He'd still let Midorima deal with the reply, though, it wasn't like he had any new information he could add.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several blocks away, Midorima was sitting in the break room, and like Aomine, was staring at his phone trying to make sense of Kise's message. Akashi was in Tokyo for meetings, but he had no idea what prompted Kise's sudden concern. The actor meant well enough, but was horribly scatterbrained; they were lucky if he remembered to send birthday greetings on the correct day. Knowing Aomine wouldn't bother to respond, Midorima started his reply, wishing, not for the first time, that Kise would actually include all relevant information in his _first_ message.

> **Message to:** Kise Ryōta  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Akashi is in Tokyo today. I fail to see the reason for your sudden concern. Would you care to – 

He was interrupted mid-sentence when his phone buzzed with another incoming message.

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Akashi  
>  Shin-chan, Izuki and I just finished teaching a class for Kuroko. He's really worried about Akashi, so we're going back to his place with him. Not that we have much other choice, since they've closed the subway stops we need. Please update me if you hear anything from/about Akashi; I'll pass anything relevant on to Kuroko so we don't tie you up too much. Oh, and Shin-chan, be careful.

Midorima glared at his phone. Clearly there was something going on that he knew nothing about.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  I've been at the hospital all day. Would someone be so kind as to enlighten me as to – 

He was interrupted again, this time by every pager in the room going off in unison. Before he could fish his out, the break room intercom crackled to life with what he assumed was the same message.

"May I have your attention please. There has been a mass casualty incident at one of the office buildings downtown. All operations are now taking place as outlined in the emergency response plan. First responders are on the scene now, and patients may begin arriving within fifteen minutes. This is the closest hospital, and as such will be receiving the bulk of the patients, especially trauma cases. We currently have no information as to the number of casualties or the nature of their injuries. In accordance with the emergency plan, all other patients with non-urgent concerns should be directed to one of the other local urgent care facilities or asked to return later. All staff currently on duty should remain so until further notice. Attending physicians should meet with their teams to review relevant protocol and workflows. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

Midorima sighed; he was supposed to be close to the end of his shift, but it looked like he was going to be in for a long day.

One of the other doctors in the break room turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until he found a news station covering the incident. Midorima swore when he recognized the building as the headquarters of Akashi's current employer.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  They just made the first announcement here. You probably know more than we do at this point. Aomine?

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  I've got nothing. Alcohol  & Drugs isn't involved in this, so I'm stuck at the fucking station with a crapload paperwork. FD sent Kagami's unit out as backup though. Taiga, update?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagami looked down at the sudden influx of messages on his phone. Clearly word was spreading. He wasn't sure what they were expecting as a reply though. He and his partner may have been on the scene, but they were parked well back from the activity taking place near the main entrance. They wouldn't be getting any closer unless or until the police department cleared the area and declared their involvement necessary. His partner had already settled down with a game on his phone, and Kagami contented himself with thinking of the burgers they'd pick up on their way back to the station afterwards. People tended to have such a romantic vision of firefighters; what they never seemed to notice was the amount of sitting around waiting that went with the job. Since they'd only be called in if the situation took a turn for the worse, he hoped they would do nothing but wait this time. 

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  We just arrived on the scene. It's kind of hard to see from back here, but it doesn't seem too bad yet. No one knows what's happening inside the building though. We're all waiting for further instruction from the police department. Has anyone tried contacting Akashi directly?

He hoped the last part of his message was unnecessary, but he had learned long ago that many of his friends lacked in common sense what they made up for with brilliance in other areas.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  I will.

Kagami sighed. Clearly not unnecessary then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the hospital, Midorima was silently kicking himself. He wasn't sure why he hadn't thought to contact Akashi earlier. He chose to blame too much happening at once, but he was certain he would have thought of it himself in another few minutes. 

> **Message to:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Please Check In  
>  Akashi, we are getting multiple reports of a violent incident at your Tokyo office. Please check in if you are able. Kise, Kuroko, and Aomine are all worried about you as well. I will – 

Once again, he was interrupted mid-message, this time by the TV, which had just cut to an interview with a woman who had been in the building.

"…did you know something was wrong?"

"I was bringing some photocopies down to the board meeting when I heard a commotion behind me in the main office. I thought it was just another crow coming in through an open window or something, so I didn't think twice about it. Then this guy I didn't recognize passed me muttering about how he should have been given some promotion, and he'd never forgive those who denied him.

"He was heading the same way I was, and the only thing down there is board offices, so I thought he might be lost. Like I said, I didn't recognize him, so I thought he must have been from one of our branch offices, and our building is confusing if you aren't used to it.

"When I asked if he needed help though, he…he…," she took a shuddering breath, "he pulled out a knife. He said…he said that subordinates shouldn't look their superiors in the eye when speaking. I wasn't about to argue with him, not with a knife in my face, so I bowed down, and he left.

"A couple of my colleagues saw it though, and they tried to stop him. He …he lashed out at them. He slashed them both…across their faces. And then there was blood, and screaming, but he just kept walking down the hall. Then he walked in on the board meeting, and when I heard screaming from in there too, I dropped all of my papers and just ran. I had to get out of there; it was too…there was too much –"

Midorima didn't bother watching the end of the interview. He deleted his half-finished message to Akashi and started over.

> **Message to:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Check In  
>  Akashi what is going on? Are you okay?

He tried to ignore the sudden tremor in his fingers and the cold sweat dripping down his back as he waited for a reply. All he kept thinking was "this can't be happening."


	2. Chapter 2

Murasakibara was lying on the couch when Himuro poked his head in from the kitchen.

"Atsushi?" he called quietly.

"Ooh, Muro-chin's good at this. Can I have more snacks?" he asked, holding out the bag he had just finished.

"Not now, Atsushi," Himuro replied absently. "Have you been watching the news?"

Murasakibara just pointed at the sleeping infant on his chest and rolled his eyes.

"Right. Anyway, it sounds like Akashi might be in trouble. You might want to check in with him."

"Aka-chin doesn't like it when we call him at work," Murasakibara whined. "I'll ask Mido-chin." He made grabbing gestures until Himuro handed him his phone from the end table.

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Murasakibara Atsushi  
>  **Subject:** Aka-chin  
>  Mido-chin, Muro-chin says that Aka-chin might be in trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across the city, Takao was trying to keep a bad situation from getting any worse. Kuroko had nearly panicked when he heard the first snippets of the reports. The same mother hen tendencies that made him an excellent teacher tended to work against him for any crisis worse than a paper cut, which was why Takao and Izuki were trying to distract him with everything from embarrassing childhood stories to bad puns.

It had been going pretty well, too, Takao thought, until the interview started. He and Izuki had only crossed paths with Akashi, but even that was enough to know that the first report from inside the building didn't sound good. He imagined it must be infinitely worse for Kuroko who had such a long and complicated history with Akashi.

"No," Kuroko had whispered when the interview began. "I thought he changed. This can't be happening; I can't lose him again." As the interview continued further down the same lines, Kuroko curled himself into a ball in the corner of the sofa. Izuki wrapped his arms around Kuroko's shoulders and rubbed gently while making soothing noises, and Takao took advantage of the moment to extricate himself from the tangle of limbs on the sofa and pull out his phone.

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Umm, Shin-chan…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the police station, Aomine had abandoned any pretense of doing paperwork. Someone had turned on the shitty TV in the corner, and almost everyone in the station was crowded around it or watching from their desks. When the secretary started recounting the events occurring inside the building, he couldn't believe his ears.

"That fucking bastard!" he yelled. "What the hell does he think he's doing!?" He ignored the irritated looks his co-workers gave him and started punching angrily at his phone.

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō, Kagami Taiga  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Shit, Midorima. Are you seeing this? That bastard!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midorima was trying to regain some sense of calm before complete chaos descended, but he was interrupted repeatedly by his phone buzzing. Eventually he gave up and read through the messages, determining that everyone else's thoughts had run along the same lines as his had.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  I saw it too. I'm waiting to hear back from Akashi. Let's try not to jump to conclusions.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  I'm kind of out of the loop here. See what and what conclusions?

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Interview with someone who was in the building. There's a guy in there carving people up with a knife who has all the hallmarks of our favorite Emperor.

He rubbed his temples. He was already getting a headache, and the worst hadn't even started yet. His phone buzzed again, and he glanced down at it, expecting it to be more of the same. When he saw the sender though, he froze, mentally preparing himself before he opened the message.

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Check In  
>  It will all work out, Shintarō; I am absolute. Your concern is unbecoming and quite frankly insulting.

He stared at the message and willed himself to breathe. He could almost feel a pair of heterochromatic eyes boring into him as he read. With shaking fingers, he forced himself to dial Akashi's number. It felt like it took forever for the call to connect, but it only rang a single time before going directly to voicemail.

He hung up. He didn't have time to think though, because the pager at his hip buzzed to announce the arrival of his first patients. He sent one last quick message as he hurried down the hall.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Received a useless reply from Akashi. I tried calling, but he's turned off his phone. The first patients are arriving now, so I will be offline for awhile.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Ugh, this is a complete mess. I'm going offline too now. They've called us in to help process names of everyone who was in the building. We'll be releasing it to the media as we go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the police station, Aomine was rapidly getting fed up with his coworkers who kept getting between him and the tiny television showing the news coverage. No matter how many times he moved, someone's head always seemed to end up in the way. It didn't help that the TV was tiny and fuzzy, and he cursed the piece of crap in the brief interludes when he wasn't cursing whoever's head was in his way.

He was seriously considering elbowing the next damn person who interfered with his view when he heard a quiet noise of triumph from behind him. He pivoted sharply to see Takeda sitting at his computer and looking triumphant. The lieutenant should have been out at the scene, but an awkward encounter with a stray cat had left him with a broken ankle, and he was stuck on desk duty until it healed.

"The hell are you doing, Takeda?" Aomine demanded, looking over his shoulder.

"We finally got the damn connection working on my computer, so I can see what's going on out there. I may not be able to leave the desk easily, but I can still give advice. Some of my boys have never dealt –"

He hadn't even finished talking before Aomine snagged a chair from a nearby desk, turned around, and dropped into it.

"Aomine-kun, this isn't a public feed. I'm trying to work here," Takeda said, trying to be tactful.

"With all due respect, Takeda, I'm not moving from this damn spot until everyone's out of that building. There's someone I know who's caught up right in the middle of this by the sound of it, and I'm staying until I know where the hell he is. If you want me to move, you're gonna' have to make me."

He was nearly yelling by that point, and everyone who had started moving towards Takeda's desk to see what the commotion was suddenly found other things to do.

Takeda sighed; he knew there was no changing Aomine's mind once he was set on something. "Fine, you can stay," he said, "but if you start interfering, I _will_ write you up and have you removed."

Aomine threw a lazy salute before settling over the back of his chair to get a better view of the multiple camera feeds running on Takeda's monitor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Long after the interview ended, Kuroko finally calmed down enough to speak. "Being helpless is the worst, isn't it, Izuki-kun?" he asked quietly from where he was still curled up in Izuki's arms.

"Midorima-kun and Kagami-kun are both helping everyone, and Aomine-kun could too if they needed him, but there's nothing we can do but wait. We don't even know what's happening until someone there has a chance to let us know."

He curled even deeper into Izuki's arms when he finished, and Izuki welcomed him into a comfortable silence. Takao was sitting on the floor in front of them and absently tracing small circles on his leg.

Suddenly, he felt Izuki and Takao shift, and he looked up to see a new message on the television. It was the first list of people from the building who were confirmed safe. He watched the names scroll by on the screen Aiiso, Aikawa, Aumura, Aogi, Aono, Aonoumi, Aka… – Kuroko held his breath as he waited for one name in particular –…Akaoka, Akasaka, …, Akasobe, Akatani – and let it out with a soft whimper when the name wasn't there.

He watched the rest of the list scroll across the screen, just in case, but the name he was waiting for never appeared. "He's not there," he said quietly as the names began again from the beginning.

"It's still early," Takao said. It was meant to be reassuring, but it sounded hollow.


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later, the list of names was still repeating itself on the TV, and Kuroko was still staring vacantly at the screen. Every time the loop began again, Takao heard Kuroko's sharp intake of breath, inevitably followed by a quiet, whimpered exhale when Akashi's name failed to appear. There had been no new names the last three times it had run, and Takao was beginning to lose hope. As the list started yet again, his phone buzzed for the first time in an hour.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  That's the last of the people here. The current list that's airing is everyone we know so far.

He stared at his phone for a long minute, as if sheer force of will could somehow change the message.

"Kagami says that's everyone," he said finally.

"He's not there," Kuroko whispered, not taking his eyes off of the names onscreen.

"I'll check with Shin-chan again," Takao said quietly, but Kuroko made no acknowledgment he had heard. Ever since the first list aired, he had been watching the TV with a vacant, dead expression. Takao caught Izuki's eye again, and he could see the worry that mirrored his own, but neither of them could get through to wherever Kuroko had locked himself away in his thoughts.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi  
>  **Message from:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Shin-chan, Akashi's not on Kagami's list. Have you seen him? Update please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midorima sagged against the wall in a blessedly deserted hallway. While it was not nearly as bad as it could have been, the hospital had still seen a steady wave of patients with lacerations from the attacker's first assault as well as those with injuries sustained while trying to evacuate the building, and they were braced for another wave as the police still hadn't reached the floor of the building where the main incident had taken place. He had taken advantage of a brief lull in the activity to grab a few moments for himself between cases. Once he was alone though, all of the worry he had pushed aside while working came flooding back. He hadn't seen any of the media reports since the first interview, but the missed messages on his phone didn't reassure him. 

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  He hasn't come through here. We've heard some rumors of a couple people declared dead at the scene though. Aomine?

He couldn't imagine Akashi getting himself killed, but it was always good to cover all bases.

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Two declared dead on scene so far. They're not releasing names yet, but Akashi's not one of them.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  In other words, Akashi's either still in the building, or he left before we started keeping track.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  He's still in there. Or at least that's the strong sense I got from his message.

As he scrolled through all of the messages they had been sending, he wondered how they were all managing to hold together. No one said it explicitly, but he was certain everyone else was as worried as he was. He, Aomine, and Kagami were all good at detaching emotionally from a situation; they had to be with their jobs, but detachment only went so far. This was personal, and no matter how detached and clinical his quick updates looked, they didn't change the sick feeling gnawing at the pit of his stomach.

> **Message to:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:**  
>  I'm terrified, Takao.

He sent the message quickly, before he could change his mind and delete it. Seconds later, a nurse poked her head down the hall and gestured for him to return. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and returned to the fray. His phone buzzed soon after, but he was already with a new patient and didn't have a chance to look at it.

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re:  
>  We all are, Shin-chan. We all are, but we'll manage somehow.  
>  I love you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Himuro sat on the floor next to the couch . He would have preferred to sit on the couch, but Atsushi lying down took up the entire couch and then some, and Himuro wasn't willing to risk waking the baby sleeping on Atsushi's chest by trying to get him to move. They didn't have a lot of absolute rules, but one of them was that a sleeping baby should never be disturbed. Never.

Although Atsushi would never say it explicitly, it was clear that he was just as worried as everyone else. He absentmindedly slipped the tiny, striped socks off of Takeshi's feet without waking him, then reached for the still-empty bag of chips by his head. When it crinkled unexpectedly, he froze and looked worriedly down at the infant on his chest. Takeshi didn't stir though, so he went back to hunting for snacks, and pouted when he realized, yet again, that the bag was still empty. Rather than poking Himuro like usual, he picked up Takeshi's socks and started putting them back on, inside out this time. It was a cycle Himuro had watched repeat every several minutes for the past hour.

When Atsushi looked over and caught his eye, he shook his head. Initially, he had handed over Atsushi's phone every time a new message came in, but at some point he had started simply reading the new messages aloud in a whisper. He was following the media coverage on his own phone as well, but it was currently only repeating old information.

Looking over at Atsushi and the sleeping infant, Himuro thought the scene would be rather adorable and domestic if it weren't for the unspoken worry imbuing everything. He wondered how many other living rooms in Tokyo were playing out similar scenes. While first responders like Kagami worked frantically to manage the situation, everyone else waited until updates eventually trickled down to the media. Until then, there was nothing to do but wait.

He was startled out of his thoughts by Atsushi's phone buzzing in his hand.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Kise Ryōta  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Waaahhh!!!  
>  ｡･ﾟﾟ･(*´﹏`)･ﾟﾟ･｡  
>  I can't believe I missed this! We're filming, but keep me updated!  
>  (*ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ゛☆  
>  Akashicchi will be fine; he has to be.  
>  八(^□^*)  
> 

"Kise says he's sorry he's only able to follow this intermittently, but he's sure Akashi is fine," he paraphrased, showing Murasakibara the message.

Atsushi made a face, undoubtedly at Kise's continued overuse of kaomoji, then returned to his most recent round of putting Takeshi's socks back on – backwards this time, Himuro noticed. He was tempted to attribute that to Atsushi's current distractedness, but given the frequency with which he ended up with mismatched or inside-out socks on his own feet, Himuro thought that might be an unfair conclusion. He just smiled and went back to reading current events on his phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aomine watched the camera feeds with growing irritation. He had more information than just about anyone else, but it still wasn't enough. He could say which officer outside the building just sneezed, or what color flowers were on the reception desk inside the main entrance. He could see the blood from where the attacker had killed the receptionist at the front desk and the elevator porter. But when it came to the important question, namely what was happening to the stuffy executives trapped in a room with a knife-wielding psychopath, he didn't know a damn thing. Everyone trapped in the board meeting could be dead for all he knew. His gut told him that wasn't the case, but it would have been nice to have any sort of confirmation.

Takeda was coordinating with the building manager and some of the officers on the scene to try to get access to some of the camera feeds from the building's security system, but if his steady string of curses was any indication, it wasn't going well.

Finally, a new window opened on the computer screen. Aomine watched Takeda silently count down to himself. Five…four…three…two…one…

The static onscreen flickered one last time before resolving to a grainy video of several people in suits huddled miserably against a wall. Several appeared to be bleeding, but everyone he could see seemed to be alive.

"We have eyes," Takeda confirmed, relieved. "The angle's not great, but I can confirm there are at least five hostages in there, at least two injured, but not critically it looks like. No visual yet on the other three executives who were reported to be in that meeting and remain unaccounted for or on the suspe-"

Before Takeda could finish, a women walked to the center of the room, driven by the knife at her throat. Her attacker was largely hidden from view behind her, but the edge of his brown hair was visible over her shoulder.

Aomine sagged against the back of his chair.

Brown hair.

Not Akashi.

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  It's not him.

He looked back at the screen in time to see the attacker addressing the rest of the room. He still had his knife at the throat of the woman, but he had moved enough that Aomine now had a clear view of him: about 5' 7", brown hair, brown eyes – no obvious distinguishing features that would set him apart from the thousands who shared those traits.

"What's he saying?" Aomine growled, waving at the screen. If the reactions of the executives were any indication, it wasn't anything good.

"No idea. No ears there," Takeda said shortly. He was receiving updates from all sides as they started to formulate a concrete response. Aomine was only half-watching the rapidly shifting screen when Takeda suddenly sat bolt upright. "FUCK!" he swore loudly.

"Problem?" Aomine asked, and Takeda just gestured angrily at the newest window on his computer. It was a message sent to the police, the heads of the company, and most of the major media outlets.

> To Whom It May Concern,
> 
> Long have I been passed over for promotion within this company, despite my qualifications, loyalty, and years of service. I know how to lead our company into the future, instead of languishing stagnant as it has under its current leadership.
> 
> Since traditional means have failed, I regrettably have had to turn to other means to ensure the continued prosperity of the institution. As should be clear by now, I have the means and drive to establish our new empire, but that cannot happen if I am not given the opportunity to act.
> 
> All previous attempts to achieve this goal through peaceful means have failed, so I am regrettably forced to resort to force in the name of the greater common good.
> 
> My demand is simple: remove the current board of directors and give control of the company to me and those I select. If you do this, those I am currently holding will be released unharmed; however, this process has stretched on for far too long already. To prevent any further delays, I attach the following condition: I will kill one person in this room for every ten minutes there conditions are not met, beginning immediately.
> 
> The choice is in your hands. How much blood are you willing to spill?

"Fucking lunatic," Aomine swore under his breath. "We can't-"

"We can't, and there's no guarantee he wouldn't kill them anyway for insurance, even if we did meet his demands," Takeda said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagami breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Aomine's message. It had no impact on his immediate actions on scene, but it would make dealing with the aftermath and fallout a lot easier. At least he hoped it would. His relief was tempered by the fact that Akashi was still unaccounted for, which could mean nothing, or it could mean everything.

Ever since they had finished collecting the names of everyone who had been in the building, he and his partner had been waiting on standby. There had been an initial flurry of activity from the paramedics, but not enough to require additional assistance, and that had trickled off once the first rush of people dissipated. Now, the only people entering and leaving the building were police officers giving reports. Most of the response team was still outside the building, waiting for more information on what was happening inside before they made any finalized plans.

Suddenly, the police teams burst into action. Amidst shouted orders, they grabbed any equipment they had set aside, and most of them took off into the building at a dead sprint. One of the officers split off from the group and headed over towards where Kagami was leaning up against the side of the building.

"Grab your gear and follow me," the officer said, barely slowing down. "Wait for the all clear before you enter any area, and be ready to assist."

"What's the situation?" Kagami asked, shouldering his bag while trying to keep pace with the officer.

"He's forced our hand. Beyond that, we don't know much. Your guess is as good as mine as to what we're going to find in there," the officer said as he headed for the stairs. "We disabled the elevators to secure the space, so we're in for a bit of a climb."

As he climbed, Kagami listened to the echoes of heavy footfalls coming down from above and mixing with the muted cries of all clear coming from the other side of the stairwell doors. He tried not to think too much about what would be waiting for him on the other side of the door. Dwelling on hypotheticals would only interfere with his ability to read and respond to the actual scene.

His legs were burning by the time the officer finally signaled for them to wait. They held back in the stairwell as the officers went through the door, but it wasn't long until they were called to join them.

His first thought as he looked around the space was that it looked like an earthquake had hit. Many of the chairs at the desks had been overturned in people's hast to escape, and unsecured piles of papers had been scattered everywhere in the rush. From what he could reconstruct, a file cabinet near one wall had been knocked over, and it had set off a chain reaction that had taken down many of the partitions between the desks down the length of the room.

He counted three injured along the main path from the door, but since the first team of paramedics arrived just after they did, panting and out of breath but already going into action, Kagami left them and started picking his way through the downed partitions, looking for anyone trapped beneath them. He made a mental note to request that the company review earthquake-preparedness guidelines and properly secure their furniture, as the current setup clearly did not meet regulations.

While a couple of the officers stayed behind in the room, most of them continued straight through and down the hall towards the heart of the crisis. Focused on his own task, Kagami barely noticed them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Aomine as he watched events unfold on Takeda's computer, the half-finished message on his phone forgotten. When the attacker had said "starting immediately," he had apparently meant he would make his first example immediately, not that the ten-minute timer would begin immediately. He had elbowed the woman he had been holding in the side of the head, knocking her unconscious by the look of it, then dragged an unconscious man to the center of the room – the treasurer, Aomine thought, if he was remembering correctly from the quick scan of the company board he had done earlier. The assailant slapped the man several times until he stirred, then grabbed him by the collar and started yelling something. When he finished, he dropped the man unceremoniously back on the ground and raised his arm for what Aomine knew would be the killing blow.

Aomine looked desperately at the other camera feeds, but it was clear no one was going to make it to the conference room in time. They had waited for too long, and the disabled elevators were hindering them further. He growled in frustration, wanting nothing more than to rush in and knock the knife out of the smug bastard's hand himself. It was an impulsiveness that had earned him a reprimand on more than one occasion, but it didn't matter now. He was stuck behind a desk nowhere near the scene, unable to do anything other than watch in horror as the knife arced upward.

When it reached the top of its arc though, it stopped suddenly as the man wielding it started and looked over at the door. Whatever he saw there caused him to scramble backwards, and he tripped over his feet in his haste. The movement triggered a vague pull of recognition in Aomine's gut, but he couldn't place it and didn't waste much time thinking about it.

"What the…?" Takeda asked, and Aomine had to agree with the sentiment. When the unexpected person in the doorway came into the view of their camera though, Aomine nearly dropped his phone.

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Still no sign of AkaFUCK. The hell does he think he's doing!?

Akashi stood in the center of the room, looking down at the attacker. Every time he tried to stand, the man stumbled back even farther. At some point, he had dropped the knife, and it lay forgotten on the floor. Even over a grainy video feed, Aomine found himself instinctively avoiding Akashi's eyes.

Though Aomine had no doubts that Akashi could have contained and resolved the situation himself, the first of the police officers reached the room less than a minute later. It didn't take them long to arrest the man and call in the paramedics to see to the board members. Aomine finally relaxed, glad the whole ordeal was over.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi  
>  **Message from:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  What's happening? You found him?

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Message from:** Murasakibara Atsushi  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Mine-chin's not making sense (-_-)

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Everything's under control now, courtesy of our little emperor and his damn Emperor Eye.

Aomine knew he shouldn't be bitter, not when lives had been saved, but he couldn't help feeling irritated that a single, untrained individual had been able to do what the entire damn police force couldn't. Even if said individual happened to be damn near perfect at everything, or perhaps especially then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagami and his partner were still clearing the downed partitions when they heard a commotion coming from down the hall, and several of the paramedics ran out of the room. From what he could gather from the conversation trickling back, the situation had been contained with no further loss of life, due in large part to the actions of a good samaritan who had somehow managed to buy the police the extra seconds they needed to reach the room.

Since it didn't involve him directly, he largely ignored the rush of activity and continued looking for anyone trapped under downed furniture. He was nearly finished when he heard a familiar voice, and he looked up to see Akashi arguing with a paramedic who was trying to convince him to go to the hospital. He excused himself to his partner and crossed the room, resting a friendly hand on the paramedic's shoulder and signaling to her let him take over. He had expected more resistance, but she was clearly terrified of Akashi and was all too happy to let someone else take over.

"Akashi," Kagami said, carefully keeping his voice neutral.

"Taiga, this concern is unnecessary," Akashi said calmly. "I am absolutely fine, and your time and resources would be better spent on those who need them more."

"You may be fine, Akashi, but Kuroko sure as hell isn't, and Midorima probably isn't as well. So you're going to suck it up, go to the hospital, and let Midorima do what he needs to do to convince himself that you're still in one piece."

For a long moment, neither of them said anything, but ultimately it was Akashi who broke eye contact first.

"Understood, Kagami," he said as he turned and headed for the stairs, the paramedic running after him.

As soon as he was out of sight, Kagami sat down hard on a nearby desk. He had resisted breaking under Akashi's Emperor Eye, but it had been a close thing. Once his fingers stopped shaking so badly, he sent a final message.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryōta, Midorima Shintarō, Murasakibara Atsushi, Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  The situation's under control. Akashi seems fine, but he's heading your way just to be safe, Midorima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed update; I couldn't find a good place to break this chapter, so it ended up a bit long.


	4. Chapter 4

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  That was a day.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Tell me about it. You up for a drink?

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Hell yes. The usual spot?

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Can we not? They'll probably be playing today's news all over the place, and I'd rather not keep thinking about it.

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Crap, no, I don't want to see that either. My place? I'll grab beer on the way home.

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Sounds good. We're about to debrief on scene, but then I'll be free. I'll grab takeout on my way over. Chinese or pizza?

> **Message to:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Message from:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Pizza. Teriyaki burger on mine?

> **Message to:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **Message from:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Sure. See ya soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over in Kuroko's apartment, Takao turned off the television. With the situation resolved and Akashi fine and accounted for, there was no need to have the news playing for information. If there were any new developments, he was sure someone would send a message, and he didn't really want to be listening to constant reminders of what had happened. He suspected he wasn't the only one in the apartment to feel that way either.

He watched as Kuroko slowly started to come out of his ball. He still looked a bit shaky, but he also seemed a lot more present than he had been. Once Kuroko was largely uncurled, Izuki shifted and wrestled his phone out of his pocket. "Sorry. I wish I could stay longer," he said, "but we're having a family dinner tonight, so I have to go Shun."

"Izuki-kun," Kuroko groaned, and Takao let out a relieved laugh at Kuroko responding to them again.

After seeing Izuki out the door with the appropriate wishes for save travel, Takao took his place on the couch. "How are you doing, Kuroko?" he asked.

"I think I'm okay, Takao-kun," Kuroko replied. "I can't tell if I can't believe it's over though, or if I can't believe any of it happened at all."

"Do you want to stay with Shin-chan and me tonight?" Takao asked. He and Midorima normally had a rule that guests, especially overnight guests, needed to be announced at least a day in advance, but he was willing to make an exception for extenuating circumstances.

"I don't want to intrude."

"It's no problem; I'll let Shin-chan know now."

"In that case, thank you, Takao-kun."

Takao kept one arm around Kuroko as he sent Midorima yet another message.

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  Shin-chan, Kuroko's still pretty shaken up from today. I know it's short notice, but I invited him to spend the night with us; I don't really want to leave him alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midorima was filling out the last of the paperwork for his most recent patient when his phone buzzed again. The chaos was winding down, so he was able to steal a moment to read the message and send a quick reply.

> **Message to:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Akashi  
>  That's fine. Thank you for the warning. I'm waiting to see Akashi, but I should be able to leave after that.

He tucked his phone back into his pocket and went outside to wait for the ambulance to arrive. Technically, he shouldn't have been the one to see Akashi, but he was willing to overlook policy in this case, and everyone was too exhausted to argue with him about picking up an extra case anyway. He refused to think too much about who he was really bending the rules for – himself or Akashi.

When he heard the sound of sirens approaching, he took a few deep breaths. He knew from experience that, no matter the nature of the interaction, Akashi was not someone to face while unsettled.

He wasn't at all surprised when he found Akashi glaring at him from the stretcher in the back of the ambulance. While he had been told Akashi was fine, but he couldn't help but feel a certain degree of relief seeing evidence of that fact with his own eyes.

"Shintarō, this is overkill," Akashi said as he was wheeled to an empty room. "I am perfectly capable of walking."

"Sorry. There are protocols we have to follow," Midorima said, looking over the chart the paramedics had given him. "I'll try to make this as quick as possible, but I'm not cutting any corners."

True to his word, he jumped into his exam as soon as Akashi was settled on the table in the room he had reserved. He started with Akashi's blood pressure – low as usual, then tried not to flinch as he checked Akashi's pupils – both responsive as they should be, though the heterochromatism was as unsettling as always. As he ran his hands down Akashi's arms and legs, checking for any swelling or breaks, he felt Akashi staring at him. He tried to ignore the look, just as he tried to ignore the slight tremor in his hands he knew had precipitated it in the first place.

Akashi remained blessedly quiet until he had pressed his stethoscope to his chest. "Shintarō," Akashi said calmly, "this really is unnecessary. We both know I'm fine."

"No talking please, and take some deep breaths. I need to listen to your lungs."

Even though he wasn't looking at Akashi, he could still feel Akashi's penetrating gaze working its way under his skin. As soon as he confirmed that Akashi's lungs sounded perfectly clear, he retreated from such close scrutiny. From the relative safety of across the room, he reached for the thermometer, only to discover that the box of covers next to it was empty. He knew they kept spares in the cabinets over the sink, so he went to grab them, but he fumbled with the door handles.

"Shintarō, stop." Akashi's voice cut across the room, and he froze where he was, hands on the cabinet door. When he froze though, everything he had pushed aside all day came rushing back. He had managed to keep ahead of it all day, but Akashi's order made him stop running, and that was when it finally hit.

"You weren't here," he said quietly. Then again more loudly, his fists clenching. "You weren't here. You didn't hear the news reports describing an attacker that could have been you, or see the messages from everyone terrified for you, or feel the terror of not knowing." His voice broke as he finished, and he couldn't bring himself to look at Akashi. He stared at the cabinet doors as his shoulders shook, but he forced himself to continue. "And when you sent that message, I could tell it was _you_ , and I didn't know what to think."

"Shintarō,-" he instinctively flinched at the iron calm in Akashi's voice "-you know we are one in the same. Akashi is both of us. We're two sides of a coin; you can't have one without the other."

"I know," Midorima said quietly, "but there are some things I can't forget."

"I was born out of weakness and fear. We're not proud of that, but neither are we the same as we were then. Our relationship is no longer one of coercion and fear but rather one of mutual benefit. My strength comes out when there is no one else to rely on; his when there is a team to draw on. The two of us together make a single person, and we are stronger together than either of us could be alone. He could not have done what I did today, and I could not do what he did yesterday."

"I apologize," Midorima said. "I spoke out of turn." He did regret what he said, but it didn't change how he felt. He had never been able to fully make peace with this side of Akashi; there were too many bad memories and bad associations there. He may have forgiven, but he couldn't forget.

"I'm sorry," he said again, and he wasn't sure what he was apologizing for anymore. It was no longer just his rash words. It was everything: all the anger, fear, and uncertainty of the day rushing in and tearing down the walls he had so carefully constructed. He grabbed the handles of the cabinets with numb fingers as he braced himself against the onslaught of emotions, fighting to keep quiet. If Akashi said anything, he didn't hear it over the sound of his heart hammering in his ears and his ragged breathing. He wasn't sure how long it took before the worst passed and he could breathe again, but when he could, he apologized again.

"Shintarō, look at me." The voice was soft, but that didn't stop Midorima from scrubbing his sleeve across his face and turning to face the man who was still sitting on the exam table and acting as if nothing had happened. The eyes that met his were both red.

"Shintarō, you did well today. You all did well today," Akashi said calmly, "and I do apologize for worrying you. I assure you that was never my intention."

Akashi's words were the reassurance he needed to finish pulling himself back together. "Let me finish here, and then we can both leave and leave this behind us," he said as he picked up Akashi's chart. Without looking up he asked, "will you stay with us tonight?"

"That's not necessary."

"I already heard from Takao, and Kuroko is staying with us tonight too; I think he'd feel better for seeing you…And I'd feel better if you weren't alone tonight." The last part was rushed and mumbled into Akashi's chart.

"I really am fine, Shintarō."

"But what if something happens to your eyes again? I'm not a couple of subway stops away anymore…I'd worry less if you stayed here tonight. You can catch an early train back to Kyoto tomorrow."

There was a long pause before Akashi responded. "I understand. Thank you for the invitation, and I apologize for the intrusion."

"Wait for me out in the waiting room; I'm signing your discharge papers now, and it shouldn't take me longer than ten minutes or so to wrap up. I've been here long enough."

He was halfway out the door when he quietly said "thank you." It was barely more than a whisper, but Akashi heard it anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was less than half an hour later when he and Akashi arrived back at the apartment. Takao and Kuroko had been there for some time, and Takao had taken charge of dinner with his go-to curry recipe. He had just enough time to put away his bag before Takao served them all at the table that technically was designed for two. By unspoken agreement, the conversation remained light and largely trivial. None of them were ready to discuss the events of the day just yet.

Once everyone had finished dinner, and the cake Kuroko had insisted on picking up his way over with Takao, they settled in for an early night by another unspoken agreement. While Akashi and Kuroko took turns in the bathroom, Takao helped him rearrange the living room furniture to set out the guest futon for Kuroko, and then he dug out another spare set of bedding to set out on the couch for Akashi.

Before he retired to the bedroom, he double-checked the deadbolt on the apartment door and wedged one of the chairs from the kitchen table under the door handle. Everyone teased him a bit about that, but he was willing to put up with some teasing if it meant everyone would sleep better that night. He had heard enough from Kagami and Aomine to know that the night would be rough, and while he couldn't protect anyone from their thoughts, he could at least make the apartment feel as safe and secure as possible.

And when he woke in the middle of the night hyperventilating and drenched in sweat from dreams of blood and gouged eyes and Akashi bleeding out under his hands, that was okay, because Takao was right there next to him to quietly brush his sweat-soaked hair out of his face and make soothing noises until he fell back asleep. And when Kuroko woke in a panic from dreams of losing Akashi, that was okay, because Akashi was right there to turn on the light and show Kuroko he was still there and ultimately to awkwardly drag the futon over to the sofa so that Kuroko could fall back asleep clutching his hand as if it were a safety blanket. And when morning came, they were able to discuss the events of the previous day and fill in some of the gaps in their stories, though none of them spoke of their nightmares. But that was okay too, because they had all made it through their respective nightmares intact, and if anything, the bonds between them were stronger for it.


	5. Epilogue: Two Weeks Later

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Subject:** Dinner This Evening  
>  Shintarō, I have meetings in Tokyo today. Are you available for dinner?

> **Message to:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Dinner This Evening  
>  I'm working the evening shift, sorry. Maybe next time?

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Dinner This Evening  
>  Would you be free for lunch? I'd like to speak to you about something.

> **Message to:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Dinner This Evening  
>  Lunch would be fine. Did you have somewhere in mind?

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Dinner This Evening  
>  There's a nice café near our main office building that's usually fairly quiet, even at lunch. I'll send you the address.

> **Message to:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Dinner This Evening  
>  Thank you. What time?

> **Message to:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Message from:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Dinner This Evening  
>  I have meetings until 13:00. Is 13:30 okay?

> **Message to:** Akashi Seijūrō  
>  **Message from:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Dinner This Evening  
>  13:30 is fine. I'll see you then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Midorima turned down the side street the café was supposedly on, he thought he must have misread Akashi's directions and taken a wrong turn somewhere; it didn't look like a street likely to have a restaurant on it. He was about to turn back when he saw Akashi waiting on the sidewalk, looking impeccable as always in a three-piece suit.

The café itself was tucked in between two larger buildings and didn't even have a formal sign out front. He never would have found it if Akashi hadn't been waiting for him. As Akashi had said, the café was nearly empty, and they found themselves seated at a table near the back of the small room. Despite its location and relative obscurity, the café's menu looked excellent, and the wait staff were prompt in coming to take their orders.

They spoke of trivialities while they waited for their food, but once they had been served, Akashi cleared his throat. "Shintarō," he began, "I'm thinking of leaving my job."

"What company would you transfer to?" Midorima asked.

"Not another company."

Midorima stared. "Not another company?"

"That's correct. I'm considering leaving business altogether."

"Leaving business?" Midorima asked incredulously. It would be a lie to say he had never dreamt of Akashi getting away from the pressure cooker of stress that was the business world, and his father's company in particular, but he had never believed it would actually happen.

"Your hearing is fine, Shintarō. There's no need to repeat me," Akashi said, and the acerbic comment somehow reassured Midorima. "We both know I haven't always dealt well with the pressures and expectations of the business world," Akashi continued, and Midorima thought that was quite an understatement. "The incident a couple of weeks ago, and especially the initial reactions you all had to it, made me realize just how close I've come to snapping before, and it made me realize that there are other places where I could make better use of my skills."

"What are you thinking of?"

"Emergency management."

When Midorima stopped to think about it, and got past the initial block of trying to imagine Akashi in any career other than business, he could see how it fit. He had played with or against Akashi enough times to know how well he could control the court, and from what he had heard, Akashi had used the same skills to control the incident at his office. Emergency management was a good fit in theory, but he saw one major potential stumbling block.

"Does your father know?" he asked hesitantly.

"Not yet. I won't tell him until and unless I'm leaving."

"Will he let you go?" Midorima asked. He normally would have felt that "let" was too strong a word for the situation, but he knew enough about how the Akashi family ran to feel it was appropriate in this case.

"He can't stop me. In the business world, he is absolute. Raised by him and following the path he set out for me, I was under his rule, but outside of his sphere of influence, I'm the stronger one. He knows it too, and it scares him, though he'll never admit it. I think that's part of why he's always kept me on such a short leash. If he wanted to, he could ensure I never found another business job anywhere in Japan, but he can't do the same for other fields."

"Do you think he would?"

"Make sure no one else hires me? I think so. He doesn't take kindly to people disobeying him, especially not people he's trusted with more power within the business, and most certainly not the person he's been training as his successor."

"In other words…" Midorima paused, trying to figure out how to articulate the implications of what Akashi was saying.

"In other words, making this decision will burn a lot of bridges. If I leave, there's a good chance my father will make sure I'm never able to come back, not to the company, and not to the field as a whole."

"Is it worth it?"

"I hope so, but it's hard to be completely certain beforehand. I could always stay in my current position, but it's become increasingly clear that that isn't a viable long-term option. And while staying isn't a viable option, neither is transferring to a similar position; Father has made it very clear he won't allow that. I could do just about anything outside of business, but this is the first time I've found something that I truly want to do.

"And if I act now, while Father is occupied managing the public relations fallout from the incident and re-evaluating all of our security procedures, he may be too busy to react as strongly to this as he could. I'm not so naïve as to believe it would fall through the cracks entirely, but at least his retribution might be reduced."

"It sounds like you've made your decision."

"I have," Akashi said quietly, "but am I strong enough to see it through?"

"What do you mean?" Midorima asked. It was almost unheard of to see Akashi admitting vulnerability, and it unsettled him.

"Look at what Father has done before, and that was when I was doing what he wanted. What will it be like when I oppose him?"

"You're stronger than he is. You said it yourself earlier; when he doesn't have the leverage from his position to help him, he's weaker than you. You can face him."

"Yes, but what will it cost?"

Midorima was silent; he had no good answer to that question. As much as he wanted to reassure Akashi, he had no patience for false reassurances, so he answered with what he could.

"I don't know," he said honestly, "but I want it to work, and I'd hope the worst of it would pass once you've left. You deserve better." He almost spat the last sentence, crushing his napkin in his fist as he spoke.

Akashi didn't respond, but he didn't need to. They had spent enough time together to be able to speak in the unspoken. Instead he rose, signaling the end of their meal. "Expect to hear from me within the week," he said. "Until then, I'd like this to stay quiet, Shintarō."

"I understand; I won't speak of it until I hear otherwise," Midorima replied, tentatively reaching out a hand. It had been many years since the ill-fated semi-final match at the Winter Cup, but he still couldn't offer a handshake to Akashi without worrying on some level about whether or not the gesture would be accepted. He needn't have worried though, as Akashi accepted the gesture without hesitation.

"Thank you, Shintarō," he said. Then he left, leaving Midorima alone in the empty café. Midorima suspected he knew what Akashi would choose; he just hoped it wouldn’t cost too much to get there, and he would have preferred a less traumatic catalyst for it as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At that brings us to the end of this story. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with it.
> 
> As always, comments and feedback are welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments are welcome and appreciated.


End file.
